I always thought that the first month of school was one of the most difficult times of the year. First of all, there are so many variables to become familiar with - new students, a possible new school, new staff members, new curriculum, as well as the newest " Holy Grail" that will cure the ills of the entire educational system.
In September, you have new ideas and want to "tackle the world". But you need to give yourselves a break! You need to find out what the "world" consists of before you can tackle it. Somethings, you can become familiar with over the summer. But there are always those unexpected events that happen: you're teaching a different class; new staff; extra students. A variety of things can happen.
Another item that changes is your time. During the school year, I was very efficient with my time, both at work and at home. I was goal oriented in order to get everything done. Then the summer comes and things relax somewhat. I didn't have to get up as early and the pace of my day slowed down considerably. I might even read or relax in the backyard. Then, works begins again and I have to get back into the rhythm of being super efficient again. I found that this really took me a few weeks to master and, along the way, I got tired a lot! So give yourself a break whenever you can.
Lastly, in my previous post, I noted a link to a NYS - ELA (Social studies) domain involving Early World Civilizations. If you didn't click on the link, take a look. Then on September 5, the front page of The Post Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY displays, "WHAT SHOULD FIRST-GRADERS KNOW ABOUT MESOPOTAMIA?" This article questions the appropriateness of the content and quantity of the material in this model lesson. I was thrilled to see the newspaper discussing these proposed outlines(domains). Are these domains widening children's horizons or making them completely confused? I know how I would answer this question - try answering it for yourself.
